Okay, so the tenor of dialog on Facebook has taken a turn for the worse. I don't know how it ended up there, but I'm going to try and veer it back a bit. Here's what that means:

I'm not going to stop talking about politics. I am, however, going to try to be civil about it. I'd also like to hear your thoughts and opinions on politics, but I'd ask for a respectful comment. In other words, act like your mom is reading your post.

Many mobile apps only work when they have access to a network. However, a growing number now support a disconnected mode. This is especially useful in the case of a fishing app, because some spots can be far out to sea. In this situation, a user should be able to store any catches locally. Later, when a network is available, the data should be synchronized with the server.

I've got an idea for an app, and it's worth "a million dollars": Every time someone comes up to me and says they've got an idea for an app, they owe me a buck.

Yes, I realize that makes no sense. Unfortunately, it makes about as much sense as some of the ideas that are presented to me. Don't get me wrong, there are some very good ideas out there; it's just that they can get lost in some of the "not so enlightened" things I hear.

The basic building block for most iOS apps is the view controller. Regardless of whether the app's design calls for the display of a map, or a table, or a means to gather user details, the view controller provides an elegant manner of interacting with the user.

Most applications have a need to display a list of items; this could be as simple as a list of groceries, or as complex as a multi-layered collection of auto parts. Fortunately, both the iOS and Android platforms provide rich functionality to support lists.

There's an old, old cartoon that's been floating around the IT industry for decades. (Sadly, I can't seem to find it on Google.) The gist of it is this: A programmer is sitting at a computer and his boss says: "You start programming, and I'll go figure out what the customer wants." (I said it was an old joke - I never said it was hilarious.) :-) Sadly, that cartoon is as relevant today as it was when it was first printed. And when people are asked how to solve this problem, they nearly always provide a standard answer: We need to adopt a more modern development methodology.